On the Ecology of Mountainous Forests in a Changing Climate: A ...

Appendix 205
Tab. A-7: Values for maximum tree age (years) from the literature. n – sample size (number of values
found in the literature); Min, Mean, Max – minimum, average and maximum value. kAm used in
FORCLIM is the arithmetic mean of the average and the maximum values, rounded to the nearest 10
years.
Species n Min Mean Max (Mean+Max)/2 kAm
Abies alba 6 300 600 800 700 700
Larix decidua 6 300 700 1000 850 850
Picea excelsa 8 200 650 1200 925 930
Pinus cembra 6 600 900 1200 1050 1050
Pinus montana 1 300 300 300 300 300
Pinus silvestris 7 400 614 900 757 760
Taxus baccata 7 1000 1714 2500 2107 2110
Acer campestre 4 100 143 200 171 170
Acer platanoides 7 150 264 500 382 380
Acer pseudoplatanus 7 350 493 600 546 550
Alnus glutinosa 6 100 182 300 241 240
Alnus incana 5 50 95 200 148 150
Alnus viridis 0 – – – – 100
Betula pendula 7 100 149 300 224 220
Carpinus betulus 5 150 180 250 215 220
Castanea sativa 6 600 1017 2000 1508 1510
Corylus avellana 3 5 0 6 7 8 0 7 3 7 0
Fagus silvatica 7 300 357 500 429 430
Fraxinus excelsior 5 250 300 400 350 350
Populus nigra 4 200 250 300 275 280
Populus tremula 5 100 126 160 143 140
Quercus petraea 4 500 725 1000 863 860
Quercus pubescens 0 – – – – 500
Quercus robur 9 500 922 1200 1061 1060
Salix alba 4 100 143 200 171 170
Sorbus aria 3 100 167 200 183 180
Sorbus aucuparia 6 90 105 120 113 110
Tilia cordata 7 500 871 1000 936 940
Tilia platyphyllos 7 500 914 1000 957 960
Ulmus scabra 4 400 450 500 475 480
kG parameter
Based on yield table data (Anonymous 1983, Schober 1987), identification procedures
(Press et al. 1986) were used in an attempt to determine the kG parameters of 10 species:
Quercus petraea, Q. robur, Fagus silvatica, Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus excelsior, Betula
pendula, Picea excelsa, Abies alba, Pinus silvestris, and Larix decidua. However, for the
other 20 species no yield table data could be found, and there was no convincing
relationship between the kG parameters used by Kienast (1987) and those obtained from
the identification algorithms; moreover, yield table data do not reflect the maximum
growth of single trees, but rather the average growth of tree populations. To determine
kG, Kienast (1987) used a qualitative approach based on descriptions of tree growth rates
(Mitscherlich 1970), the FORET gap model (Shugart & West 1977) and yield tables
(Anonymous 1983); the method was designed to yield a correct ranking of the species
with respect to their kG parameters, but the absolute values of kG may not be reliable
(Kienast, personal communication). Competitive success is based mainly on the relative
ranking with respect to a certain parameter; thus the procedure taken by Kienast appears
to be appropriate for deriving kG.
Botkin et al. (1972a, p. 872) noted that kG is related to the maximum diameter increment
δD max . The relationship between kG and δD max was determined both for Botkin's and
for Moore's (1989) growth equation by means of simulation studies. Then the FORECE
values of kG (Kienast 1987) were recalculated via δD max to fit Moore's (1989) growth
equation based on the following formula, whose derivation will be published elsewhere:
kG ForClim = kG Forece · 0.1765
0.1465 · kH m + 538.27
kH m + 72.01
(A1)
where kHm is in [cm]. The resulting kG parameters are given in section 3.4, Tab. 3.11.